CVRD property taxes are to rise an average of six per cent.
A follow up Citizen comment letter from the CVRD CAO, suggests property taxes are not going up significantly, on average, that is, I guess. The truth is somewhere in, or out there. We do know local government property taxes do on average rise, roughly two to three times the inflation rate, or Cost of Living Index year by year…this is historically just how it has been, and is the case in 2017 as well.
Certainly pensions and market place wages are not following that pattern generally. Check your pocket book to confirm. Anyway, other letters, from others, have touched on that sore point.
Sooo…who to trust on taxes? Bureaucrats? Politicians? Pundits?
What are the relevant facts? Who has them? Are there alternative facts to confuse and confound?
Yes, it is actually quite complicated, with 13 jurisdictions within the CVRD, different budget policy and agendas in each electoral area, or municipality. Property assessments moving around (up) over time, and at different rates in different locals…that pulls the tax load one way or another. As well, for example in Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls (Area F) the CVRD ask is aound $299 per $100k property assessment, but in North Oyster-Diamond (Area H) the requisition is only $137 per $100k assessment. Go figure, laugh or cry, all other Electoral Areas are somewhere in-between. (The CVRD website, under Finance, has lots of great pages of stuff in regards)
Clearly it depends on where you are residing, your particular political agenda jurisdictionally, where you perch in the scheme of things, that sets at what rate you are paying $$$ to the CVRD, or through a municipality.
What can a poor property tax payer do to get to the bottom of it all for their own property, with respect for all the moving parts? Especially rising assessments.
Simply, look at what you paid last year, look what the ask is this year, the percent increase is simply that, the increase. Go back over 10 years if you can. Find the patterns.
No bureaucrat, no politician, or any others, can successfully make rebuttal to your own calculator, and it’s basic math.
Loren Duncan
Sahtlam